SpaceX surged more than 20 per cent in its Nasdaq debut on Friday, pushing its valuation above $2 trillion and making Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire, as investors piled into the world’s largest IPO and bet on the billionaire’s sprawling empire spanning rockets, satellites and artificial intelligence.

The stock opened at $150 a share, well above its IPO price of $135, and was last trading at $164, giving SpaceX a market value exceeding $2 trillion and making it the sixth-largest publicly traded company in the United States.

BREAKING: SpaceX has made its debut on the New York stock market and could make Elon Musk the world’s first trillionaire.

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SpaceX’s explosive debut is being viewed as a referendum on Wall Street’s appetite for companies built around transformative visions rather than near-term profitability. A strong performance could revive a sluggish IPO market and pave the way for the next generation of mega listings, including potential offerings from AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic.

The deal was closely scrutinised because of the stakes involved for the broader IPO market. Some bankers had warned that a weak debut could dampen enthusiasm for upcoming listings and expose cracks in investors’ willingness to back richly valued companies.

Instead, SpaceX’s first-day rally reinforced what analysts describe as the “Musk premium” — investors’ readiness to pay extraordinary prices for Musk’s long-term bets despite growing questions over valuation and profitability.

The landmark listing cemented Musk’s status as the world’s first trillionaire and propelled SpaceX into the ranks of America’s most valuable companies, even though the firm reported a loss of nearly $5 billion last year and generated only a fraction of the revenue brought in by similarly valued technology giants.

“I gave SpaceX a 10% chance of succeeding at all,” Musk said in Texas shortly before the opening bell.

SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell and Chief Financial Officer Bret Johnsen rang the Nasdaq opening bell at 9:30 a.m. ET.

At $75 billion, SpaceX’s offering eclipsed Saudi Aramco’s record-setting 2019 listing, rewriting the IPO playbook and drawing legions of retail investors into the market.

The debut is also widely viewed as a dress rehearsal for a new wave of mega-listings. Market participants are watching closely for signals on investor appetite ahead of potential IPOs from AI heavyweights OpenAI and Anthropic.

Although SpaceX may have to wait for inclusion in the S&P 500, its expected fast-track entry into the Nasdaq 100 could soon make it a major holding for passive funds and exchange-traded funds tracking the index, creating another source of demand for the stock.

“We have to go back 100 years to get comparable entrepreneurs. He’s a visionary unlike others, and he executes extremely well,” said Joel Shulman, CEO of ERShares, which manages an ETF with exposure to SpaceX.

Some analysts expect SpaceX’s debut to trigger a reshuffling of investor portfolios as funds rotate into the stock, potentially creating selling pressure on other technology names.

For all the excitement surrounding the IPO, determining what SpaceX is actually worth remains a difficult valuation exercise.

SpaceX says its addressable market spans $28.5 trillion, a figure it has described as the largest market opportunity in human history. The company points to its dominance in launches — accounting for more than four-fifths of the mass launched into orbit over the past three years — and growing revenues from Starlink as evidence of its long-term potential.

John Belton, portfolio manager at Gabelli Funds, said the closest comparison is Tesla.

“For Tesla, that’s things like humanoid robotics and other future applications. For SpaceX, it’s the AI business,” he said.

However, not everyone is convinced.

With revenue of $18.7 billion in 2025, SpaceX trades at a price-to-revenue ratio of roughly 94. Morningstar analysts said earlier this month that the company is more fairly valued at around $780 billion, highlighting the gap between market enthusiasm and traditional valuation models.

Competition is also intensifying, with Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin accelerating efforts to commercialise space and compete for lucrative government contracts.

“This is not a name you’re buying based on fundamentals. For me, the analogy is Amazon. This was a company that changed the way we live,” said Nancy Tengler, CEO and CIO of Laffer Tengler Investments.

“If the stock drops to $100, that’s not ideal, but it wouldn’t change our long-term view. We want to participate.”

Whether SpaceX ultimately justifies its valuation or not, Friday’s debut has already reshaped the IPO landscape. Wall Street’s verdict suggests investors remain willing to pay a premium for companies promising to define the future — even if the future has yet to turn a profit.

(With inputs from Reuters)